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Shane Victorino
Shane Patrick Victorino (born November 30, 1980) (nicknamed "The Flyin' Hawaiian") is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he played for the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers. He was a switch-hitter until he played for the Boston Red Sox, now he is only a right-handed batter and throws right-handed. Victorino made his MLB debut with the Padres in 2003. He played for the Phillies from 2005 through 2012. With the Phillies, Victorino won three Gold Glove Awards, was named to two MLB All-Star Games, and was a member of the 2008 World Series champions. With the Red Sox, Victorino won a Gold Glove Award and was a member of the 2013 World Series champions. He also won the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award in 2008 and the Branch Rickey Award in 2011. Los Angeles Dodgers Victorino was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the sixth round of the 1999 MLB Draft out of St. Anthony High School in Wailuku, Hawaii. He spent the 1999 through 2002 seasons in the Dodgers minor league system, reaching Double-A with the Jacksonville Suns of the Southern League in 2002. San Diego Padres (2004) Victorino was selected in the 2002 Rule 5 draft by the San Diego Padres and made his Major League debut for the Padres on April 2, 2003 as a late inning defensive replacement against the San Francisco Giants. He recorded his first at-bat the following day against the Dodgers, grounding out to third base. He did not record his first hit until April 20, when he singled to right field off of Shawn Chacón of the Colorado Rockies. He played in 36 games for the Padres with a .151 batting average. On May 28 he was returned by the Padres to the Phillies. Philadelphia Phillies (2005-2012) After playing two more seasons in the Dodgers farm system, with Jacksonville and the Las Vegas 51s of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. Victorino was again selected in the Rule 5 draft, on December 13, 2004, by the Philadelphia Phillies. He again failed to stay with the major league club, and was offered back to the Dodgers. The Dodgers declined, so the Phillies retained his contract and assigned him to their Triple-A minor league club, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons of the International League. He hit .310 in 126 games with the Red Barons, with 18 home runs and 70 RBI, earning International League All-Star and Most Valuable Player honors. Additionally, he was selected as a Baseball America second team Minor League All-Star, a Triple-A All-Star and Phillies Minor League Player of the Year. He received a September call-up to the Phillies and hit his first home run on September 22 off Tim Hudson of the Atlanta Braves. Victorino became a starting player when he replaced Bobby Abreu midway through the 2006 season, in right field. He then replaced Aaron Rowand, who left by free agency, in center field in 2007. On June 3, 2007 the Phillies celebrated "Shane Victorino Day" with Victorino hula figurines, and flew his father in from Maui for the game. Victorino ended the day's game with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth against the Pirates. In the 2008 NLDS Game 2 against the Milwaukee Brewers, Victorino hit a grand slam (his first ever in the major leagues, and the Phillies first post-season grand slam) off of CC Sabathia in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Victorino also became the first player in post-season history to have a home run, a double, and two steals in a single game. In 2008, Victorino received the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award. Victorino's success carried over into the 2008 NLCS, as he continued to make crucial hits and defensive plays for the Phillies. In Game 2 he was 2 for 5 with 4 RBIs. After the game, Victorino was informed that his grandmother had died. Game 3 saw Victorino in the midst of controversy. After being brushed back by Hiroki Kuroda, Victorino began to gesture towards the non-English-speaking pitcher that it was alright that he throw inside, just as long as he did not do so at his head. After grounding out to second, he continued to gesture at Kuroda and benches from both teams cleared. Victorino quickly became the villain for Dodger fans and was booed each time he came up to bat. After the game, Victorino was fined $2,500 by the league for his part in the incident. Victorino was quick to silence the crowd during Game 4 when he hit a game-tying two run home run. In their first trip to the fall classic since 1993, the Phillies went on to win the 2008 World Series by defeating the Tampa Bay Rays. On July 9, 2009 Victorino won the All-Star Game Final Vote with a record breaking 15.6 million votes, and was named the 33rd member of the National League's 2009 All-Star team. He was the first Hawaiian-born positional player to be named to an All-Star team. On August 12, in a game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, Victorino was hit with a full cup of beer while making a catch. A complaint was filed with the Chicago police by Victorino and the Cubs, and the fan was charged with two misdemeanor counts. For the 2009 season, Victorino's 13 triples led the majors, and he won his second consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award in the outfield. During the World Series against the Yankees, Victorino was intentionally thrown at by Yankee pitchers several times, resulting in a severe hand and wrist injury which limited his hitting ability for the rest of the series, thus insuring a Yankee victory in the Fall Classic. After the season, the Phillies and Victorino agreed to a three-year contract extension, avoiding salary arbitration and buying out his first year of free agency. In the first inning of the clinching Game 3 of the 2010 NL division series against Cincinnati, Victorino made a superb running-and-reaching catch of a line drive in the alley. Without that catch, the game would have been tied, 1–1, with the hitter now on second and a possible big inning for the Reds. Instead, the catch preserved a 1–0 lead. However, in the NLCS, Victorino posted a mere .208 batting average with just two RBIs and six strikeouts against the eventual World Series Champion San Francisco Giants. In 2010, he received the Tug McGraw "Good Guy Award" from the Philadelphia chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. In September 2011, he was named the winner of the Branch Rickey Award by the Rotary Club of Denver. In 2012 with the Phillies, he played in 101 games and hit .261 with 9 homers, 40 RBI and 24 steals. Los Angeles Dodgers (2012) He was traded back to the Dodgers on July 31, 2012 for Josh Lindblom, Ethan Martin and a player to be named later or cash. He played in 53 games with the Dodgers, primarily in left field and hit .245 with 2 homers, 15 RBI and 15 steals. Boston Red Sox (2013) On December 13, 2012, Victorino signed a 3-year, $39 million contract with the Boston Red Sox. The introduction music played before Victorino's at-bats at Fenway Park is "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley and the Wailers. On May 12, 2013, Victorino collided with the right field wall and was injured. However, he stayed in the game for 2 more innings. He was placed on the disabled list on May 24 (retroactive to May 21) with a hamstring strain, and re-activated on June 8. He was named AL Player of the Week for July 28 – August 3. On October 19, 2013, Victorino hit a go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning, over the Green Monster, in game 6 of the ALCS. The grand slam put the Red Sox up 5-2 over the Detroit Tigers, and sent the Red Sox to the World Series. With this, Shane joined Jim Thome as the only other player to have hit two post-season grand slams. Victorino received the American League Gold Glove Award for his outstanding play in right field. He compiled a 25.0 UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) and had 264 putouts along with 9 assists. On Wednesday, October 30, Victorino won his 2nd World Series ring after the Red Sox' victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.